The Spectre and her Officer
by TheShinyLizard
Summary: Commander Jane Shepard, space explorer, the Captain of the starship Valiant, whose mission is to explore strange new words, seek new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before. Of course no one told her that boldly going would involve an all-female alien race, intelligent raptors, a scientist/ soldier salamander, and her keeping a crew of misfits in line.


**Part of the Mass Effect Big Bang. **

**Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it. I really wanted a Shepard that was customizable for each reader. I feel like each player had their own idea of Shepard and what she was like so I hope I didn't trample on anyone's imaginary shepard.**

**Thanks to Lez for being a wonderful Beta.**

**Thanks to Nicole for her awesome fanmix!**

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**The Spectre and her Officer**

"Yeah we finally decided on a name for the new ship. Normandy."

"Sounds great Joker." There was a buzz at her door. Jane kicked her feet off the desk and slipped the combat boots on. She strapped her various weapons on the back of her armor. She checked the clock on the omnitool. 0800 right on time as usual.

_The three of them stepped out of the Valiant, Commander Jane Shepard, the Communications Officer Kelly Chambers, and Staff Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko. The rest of the crew waited inside the ship with presumably baited breath. She knew Joker was watching them through the cockpit windows and the rest of the crew was probably watching the first contact on monitors in the lounge, the engine room, and the various other spots around the ship. _

_They were towed to the Citadel three days ago. The giant ship that towed them had stayed around, lingering at the entrance of the hangar until yesterday when it set down behind them. Dozens of the raptor aliens had poured out. The crew of the Valiant had taken to categorizing the aliens. There were the raptors, the salamanders, and the blue women, so far they had seen no blue men. The aliens fell into neat little predictable groups mostly. The raptors usually walked by in armor, some of them wore uniform blue armor, a security force. The salamanders usually wore white coats, though there were some in armor with weapons on their back. They had two horns on their head, but one of them lacked two full horns, one horn was shorter than the other. She saw him lingering around, remaining near the ship constantly. It was obvious the other scientists in the white coats respected him; they went to him with questions, it was like he hardly had a moment to himself. Shepard could relate._

_Since the first day when they had seen the alien ship while the Valiant was crippled Shepard had hardly a moment's rest. Shepard was working with her officers over the course of their rescue. Officer Chambers was busy looking over the aliens and their culture through their ship's design and actions in aiding the Valiant and its unknown crew. It was considered appropriate for the ship's communications officer to have a background in psychology: language was more than verbal communication, and while an unorthodox choice, she was more than proficient in battling the field of nonverbal communication. Engineer Adams hardly left the lower decks; he was busy repairing the drive core. His technicians came up to the galley covered in grease. Navigator Pressly followed their rescuers closely, plotted their course on the star charts. He was a navigator for the Alliance Navy back on Earth before accepting the promotion to the Valiant. He studied his astronomy and memorized every chart he could get his hands on. Doctor Karin Chakwas was keeping herself busy, watching over the technicians and mothering the ship's helmsman, Joker. Flight Lieutenant Jeff "Joker" Moreau, the Valiant's chief helmsman, suffered from a degenerative bone disease called Vrolik syndrome and every movement was a risk. He knew the number of steps it took to the head and to his bunk; he counted each footstep to the medical room. Shepard knew if she wanted to find him she only had to go to the cockpit, he hardly ever left. Navigator Pressly would come and chat with Joker, check on the status and the current course the alien ship was towing the Valiant. Staff Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko, the Marine Detail Commander, and Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams maintained the ship's weaponry and armaments. The marines aboard the ship were working hard with the rest of the crew. There was no rest for anyone. _

_The horde of aliens stood still, careful, almost afraid. Shepard kept her eyes forward, picking the aliens she had seen frequently through the window in the cockpit out of the crowd. The salamander with one horn shorter than the other was ahead of her. She saw him the most standing outside the hull, sometimes mumbling to himself. He wore a sterile white coat like many of the other aliens, one of the scientists she guessed. A substantial security force stood behind the scientists. The head scientist, the salamander with the short horn spoke to the crowd, urging them back, back towards the lift. Only those essential remained: two raptors, a blue women, the head scientist, and a salamander alien. Up close the aliens were remarkable to look at. The blue woman had tentacles on her head, they waved back, and then curled up. The raptors were strange. If she wasn't a military woman she would be frightened. They had hard bodies metallic bodies that had a dull sheen to them. One of the raptors was watching them closely, his beady blue eyes caught every movement, studying them, observing them with the eyes of soldier. His face paint was dark blue against his gray scales, when he turned his head she could see that the scales lanced back behind his head, like someone with hair had taken too much gel and molded it to defy gravity behind their head like a Mohawk from the late 20__th__ century. Shepard noted the weapons he carried an assault rifle judging from the size of gun and barrel and it look like a compact sniper rifle was on his back if the length of the barrel was anything to judge by. The other raptor standing next to him was similar but he was obviously uninterested, he stared off into space like a soldier standing at parade rest. _

_Shepard stepped forward, recalling what Captain Anderson had told her to do if she met aliens, only it all seemed so out of place now. Obviously humans meant no harm, what harm could they do right now. Even though each member of the landing party was carrying a small pistol what harm could they do, so hopefully if things turned sour they would have a small chance retreating back to the Valiant and the engineering crew might be able to fix the drive core.. It was the only thing she could think of right now though. So as unceremonious and as bland it may sound it was the first thing she said. "Hello, I am Commander Shepard of the Earth Alliance."_

_The salamander looked like he was about to rejoice and sing a song because she said something. He spoke into the device on his wrist, his mouth moving rapidly. When he was finished he turned to the blue woman and said something to her. Shepard could not understand it but the two security officers stood alert now. Their rifles were at the ready. The blue woman slowly walked over to the humans, braving the culture and language barrier. She stopped in arms reach, looking back to the scientist, he said something to her and the woman obliged. She placed her hands on the sides of Shepard's forehead and she tensed, poised to grab and throw the other woman. The blue woman's eyes suddenly turned black and Shepard was lurched out of reality. _

'_Peace. I am Nyarzia. You will not be harmed.' Shepard's memories came without her bidding them, her time on Earth, the word repeated in her head, followed by the word human, humans were from Earth. Basic lessons on the solar system, listing away each planet and an image would flash across her mind. Nyarzia seemed particularly interested in the ruins on Mars, 'Protheans', and the strange object … the word came to her, the 'Mass Effect' relay. She looked through her young memories, school, and grammar classes. Her own memories disappeared and she was now seeing the large space station- it happened again, she knew it was called the 'Citadel', they were on the Citadel, the central hub. The salamanders were 'Salarians', the raptors were 'Turians', and the blue woman was an 'Asari'. Nyarzia gently backed away, tempering the connection before severing it. Shepard took a moment to breathe in. _

"_What is your name?" The Asari spoke, her lips moved and she understood every word. Somehow she could suddenly understand her. She palmed the edges of pebble sized plastic balls, they covered the inner ear completely. They were translators then._

"Ah Shepard." Garrus stood there, a small plastic togo bag in hand, emblazoned with the bright blue logo of a popular Asari cafe. He must have woken up an hour early to pick up the Asari breakfast pastry. The restaurant was always packed in the morning. They were also one of the few places that had successfully managed to incorporate human cuisine on to their menu. He stood there awkwardly for a moment, holding it out in to her. The bag was shaking.

_Garrus asked. "What do you think of the plomeek soup?"_

_Shepard absentmindedly stirred the orange Asari soup. It tasted like water, pickles, and lemons; in other words it was horrid. It ranked somewhere between an MRE and Gardner's cooking. She didn't say anything though. She was learning to read Turian expressions and from what she determined so far was that the Turian mandible was the most expressive part of their face and Garrus' was pulled in tight._

"_It's different." She said with a smile plastered to her face. Really though she would have preferred anything to this, even the Turian Levo and Dextro restaurant. The dextro meals were probably precooked there but at least they had flavor. This though was worse than anything she had tried so far in the Citadel._

"_Yeah you hate it." Ok so he was getting good at reading her face. He laughed it off, pushing the second portion of the plate towards her._

_Shepard took a big bite out of the chicken sandwich, or whatever meat the Asari used, it tasted like chicken. If there was one thing she learned it was never ask what something was made of. The Asari were more or less accustomed to the Humans and their appetites. She thought she heard Mordin commenting that the Humans could eat as much as a Krogan or as little as a Salarian. The mad scientist was particularly fascinated by the fact that a human could survive on little to no caloric intake for weeks, and according to him a first among the races, was the human's body ability to eat itself before succumbing to death._

_And this was also not the time to look at Garrus' food and ask him what it was, again. Already the bile in her stomach was rising and she took another bite of her sandwich to squash it down. _

She knew what this was though, the new Ambassador was arriving today and he was no longer required to escort her. He could go back to working with C-Sec. The Earth delegation included a marine detail for the incoming ambassador.

"Thanks Garrus. You wanna check out the new ship?" The door swished shut behind her.

"_Commander Jane Shepard. And you are?" She held out her hand. The Turian glanced down, seeing nothing dangerous he then ignored it._

"_I'm Garrus Vakarian, Citadel Security. I will be your escort and guide in the Citadel." Translation: bodyguard. When he made no move to shake her hand she scratched her head with it, trying to act as if it was her intention all along. Scratching her head only made the staring worse. He politely looked away from her when she dropped her hand back to her side. She mentally checked herself to remember no head scratching; maybe it had something to do with the fact that humans had hair. Everyone on the Valiant noticed the astonishing lack of hair among the alien races. _

"Have they named it yet?" Garrus asked.

"Normandy."

"For?" He pressed the button for the lift.

"And old Earth battle; it still is the largest amphibious assault on Earth. Multiple countries participated and ultimately they were victorious."

They took the elevator down to the lobby. Shepard munched on the pastry, similar to a donut but somehow the Asari managed to improve on the baked dough, even the jelly filled were better. She dusted the crumbs off her cleaned and shining armor, only to have her bangs fall in front of her eyes. She tried shaking her head to move them but it only made it worse.

Garrus chuckled at her side. She glared at him from behind her hair. He laughed harder. "Garrus." She keened, looking up at him through her hair, frowning.

"_What is the fur for?" Her constant companion on the Citadel asked. Mordin had asked the question the first week, first chance he had. He speculated biological reasons, noted the different hair colors and textures. He asked if they hair colors were signs of wealth or status and perhaps that was why the men and women either had long hair or short hair, to distinguish them. When he started delving into human biology and she referred him to Doctor Chakwas for any further questions concerning the topic. She had been waiting for Garrus to finally ask her, she saw him gape at her, running over its different and possible uses in his head._

"_It's hair."_

"_What does it do?"_

"_Well." She turned to face him. "It can protect against the cold and keeps debris out of our eyes… There's not really much to it."_

"_And the color?"_

"_Yes. It's red?"_

"_What does it signify?" Oh this why like his facial markings. Nyrazia had taken time to teach the crew some basic cultural background information on all the races, the omni tools were not programmed to translate into standard yet so they could not read up on everything. All information was verbal._

"_Well… hair color is genetic so I'm sure I'm part Irish or Scottish, that's where red hair is the most prominent." Really how did she explain to him that hair was simply hair, and now with the advances in genetics parents could have their child's hair color set for life? Of course red was rare enough as it is she was pretty sure her parents did not spend the money on genetic modding for an orphan. So the closest explanation she could come up with was she was Irish or Scottish. _

_He moved closer to her. "Do you want to feel it?" _

_His face let up, mandible lifting. She would've thought he was blushing from the way he stammered out yes. Did she break a taboo, was there something special about the head for Turians she didn't know about. This is the second time she had seen him react strangely to hair and particularly touching it._

_He crouched low, so he was eye level while she was in the chair. He pulled the glove off his hands before carefully, gently stroking the hair. He barely brushed the strands. She closed her eyes, sighing wistfully. There was something very relaxing about having her hair stroked. Having someone else touch it though, not even a human, and touching it so reverently, like it might break. _

"_Can you feel that?" His voice stirred something inside of her in this relaxed state, something she so often ignored. She turned away from it though._

"_Not exactly. There's no nerves in the hair itself but I can feel it shifting, the movements." He continued touching it, combing his talons through the strands. She probably could lean back in the chair and fall asleep if he continued doing that. She savored the limp feeling in her bones, the weightless expanse of her mind, like she was floating down a river with a beer in hand and not a care in the world. The tension throughout her body simply seeped out. For the first time in a while she relaxed. She looked across at her companion, suddenly curious as to what he felt like, was he leathery or would he feel like a shark. _

"_Garrus." The stroking stopped midway, his talons still in her hair._

"_Yes?" He was hesitant, hand caught in the proverbial cookie jar._

"_Can I?" She held a hand up near his head. He dipped his head, bumping it to her fingers. _

_It was rough, a hard outer shell. She scratched the top part of it and giggled at the image of him like a dog wagging his tail because his head was being scratched. _

"_What do you call this?" She felt along the extended back end of the scales, palming it, stroking it._

"_The fringe." He gruffly said, his voice sounded oddly deeper. She leaned forward, nearly forehead to forehead with him. Her hand moved lower, caressing the surprisingly soft spot behind his fringe, just under the spot that jutted out. He was purring now, she could hear the sub-vocals clearly. He was watching her closely, talons raking through her hair, mouth slightly open and purring. She scratched him with her nails, barely digging in. His brow lowered, and his breath hitched. Foreheads touched together. _

_Her omni tool pinged, and then pinged again and again._

Garrus tucked her hair back behind her ear for her, gazing solemnly at her. Down in the lobby of the apartment complex Liara waited with her own plastic togo bag. She pulled out a donut pastry similar to the one Garrus had given her and took a bite before greeting them.

"Commander Shepard. This Dr. Liara T'Soni, she is a xenobiologist and an expert in Protheans." Nyrazia introduced the two. The aforementioned doctor stood off to the side wringing her hands together. She stayed to the back of the room, away from Shepard and the humans, away from everyone. She rarely looked up at anyone and when she spoke it was quick and hurried- and she blushed. If Shepard learned anything that day Asari could and did blush. Liara quickly told everyone she was 106 years old which she reassured them was considered young for an Asari. She asked about the artifacts the humans had found. How Shepard was touched by one. They tried to make sense of the images the beacon left behind in her mind but nothing came of it. That was after she had found out about the Asari and their melding capabilities.

"_What are they doing?" Shepard nodded over to the Asari woman who was clutching at someone's head just like the Nyrezia had done._

"_Hmm?" He looked about them, trying to pinpoint the exact thing that she found unusual this time. Hanars were not new, and neither were the Elcor, of course Shepard had giggled the first time she head the Elcor talk, and some of the crewmen from the Valiant compared the Elcor to an Earth species, the Elephant. So what could it have been. She motioned again. He took the scene in again. Then it clicked for him, the Asari woman and her mate. The First Contact, he had been there, he knew the confusion and the hesitation. He had seen her submit to the hands of the Asari, not knowing what it would bring, not even knowing why. Shepard had relented to the meld because she did not want to think about what it would mean if she refused it._

"_The Asari can meld. They can create a link and enter another person's mind."_

"_She had done that at the first contact."_

"_Yea."_

"_That's risky. What happens if when she tries it doesn't go well? Resistance? "_

"_Well that's what we hope doesn't happen. It's we find out later that their intentions were malicious after harmful aggression or we can find out immediately and hope that the meld went smoothly."_

"_A worst case scenario approach then."_

"Thanks Liara. When are you leaving for Therum?"

"This morning. I wanted a chance to say goodbye to you." Liara held out her hand in mimicry of the human goodbye. She had studied everything she could about the humans, perhaps one of the most eager scientists to learn anything she could about them.

"Oh thanks Liara." Shepard stayed back, shaking her hand but keeping a slack grip.

"Thank you Shepard." The Asari woman moved closer but hugging the commander timidly. She left them without another word, waving a last goodbye before rounding the corner.

Garrus shuffled alongside her, clearly apprehensive. "You remember my investigation into Saren?"

How could she forget that, it was the reason he was working as security instead of an investigator. He had told her that the council had been outraged that he was investigating one of their elite operatives, a Spectre.

"_And the Spectres are?"_

"_Special Tactics and Reconnaissance" He frowned stopping in their walk to lean against the railing overlooking the lake in the Citadel Presidium. He checked around them, noting that they were isolated from the crowds that frequented the political center of the Citadel. _

"_Why did you decide to investigate him?" Shepard spoke softly to him, trusting his sensitive hearing. _

"_Peculiarities. Something was going on. He had traveled to planets outside council space and his expense reports were not adding up."_

"_So what happened?"_

"_Executor Pallin. Once he found out about the investigation he disclosed it to the council." He leaned closer when an ambassador and his aide strolled behind them. Part of her wished that he would wrap his arms around her, maybe pull her in close. She let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. Really she hadn't felt anything for anyone since her academy days and now her hormones decided it was time to act up and announce that yes she was going to go through the chemical reactions of lust and romance. _

"_And that's where the Valiant came in."_

"_Yes."_

"_Convenient."_

"Yes. You reached a block though; you couldn't find any hard evidence against him."

"Well I heard form a contact today that a Quarian might have some of the information I need. Only to find her I need to see Fist." So far the plan was understandable what she couldn't see was why he was suddenly nervous, what was going on in his head for him to shy away from this. He had dedicated months to this investigation and now he had cold feet about it, something was up.

"How do you talk to Fist?"

"That's where you come in." The clincher. What would she have to do. A number of scenarios passed through her head, so why exactly did he need her for this.

Garrus suddenly stopped walking- right next to a Krogan.

"Shepard meet Wrex. Wrex, Shepard." The aforementioned Krogan stood a few heads taller than Shepard; towering over her tiny frame. He was a small mountain compared to a human. So that's what was going on, they were going in to fight the poor bastard out.

"Hmm a human. Don't know what good she'll be against Fist."

"You haven't seen her handle a gun."

_Going to a shooting range was probably one of her top three guilty pleasures, maybe not guilty but it was certainly a pleasure. Now going to space and finding out that yes in fact there is a shooting range and that your body guard can gain private access to said shooting range, now that was positively Christmas. _

_Garrus had somehow found out that it was her birthday. Someone told him about human traditions of giving the birthday person gifts. Now he had not given her a wrapped gift, no, he had told her to follow him that day. Liara would take care of cancelling certain appointments or rearranging her schedule but this would be worth it, or so he hoped. Shepard hoped so to because having to speak with an Elcor and keeping a straight face was hard to do without long night's preparation. He had taken her to a restaurant, another guilty pleasure of hers was food, especially discovering new food, and then taken her to C-Sec. _

_Officer A'lara then escorted them to another section of the academy, one that was deserted. It was the day off for the students and teachers. She had to key in a code for Garrus and warned him about damaging any of the equipment inside and she would have his hide. He chuckled, waving her off._

"_Happy birthday Shepard." The door swished open and she stepped inside to the most state of the art shooting range she had seen. Her weapons displayed on table in the back, along with several mods and a few other guns that she had seen while walking around the citadel. Another table nearby held an array of snipers and assault rifles. Each weapon in the room screamed at her to pick it, shoot that one. Computers lined the side walls and there was a barrier separating one third of the room from the rest of it. Four targets dangled from the ceiling and at a touch of a button they moved forward or back. If another button was pressed the target switched between the different races, highlighting the specific weak points. _

_Garrus was leaning against the table with the snipers and assault rifles, his personal weapons._

"_Now this." He held up a mod. "will not fire a live round in here. The striker hits the bulb and then sends electrical information to it which sends an artificial round into the target." He demonstrated the round with an assault rifle, clipping the mod into place on the barrel of the gun. He fired the rifle at the target, she could glimpse something racing along and then striking the target lighting it green below the head. _

_She picked up her sniper rifle, cherishing the weight of the weapon in her hand. She placed the mod he had used on the rifle and pressed the button to move the target back. She carefully aimed the weapon, all too aware of Garrus leaning against the side wall smirking. She released the trigger, the backlash a pleasant pain. She was off the center of the head by an inch or two. _

"_I'll show you how to do it." He sauntered to the barrier, his own sniper rifle in hand. It had to have a good half foot over hers in barrel length. _

_He lined up his shot on her target, looking over to her at the side wall and smirking. His finger twitched on the trigger but didn't pull, he set up the shot. Shepard waited, watching and when he was about to pull the trigger she coughed into her fist and the shot grazed the side of the target's head instead of hitting it dead center. She pulled her best innocent look while casually walking past him._

"_Best 2 outta 3?"_

_He chuckled, waving her into place. She aimed down the sights perfectly, and fired precisely. She should've expected something, he was not going to take interference lying down. Her round did nothing; it splashed against a shield, the spot turning an electric sizzling blue before disappearing. _

"_Oh that's too bad."_

_And oh two could play that game. While Garrus was lining up his shot Shepard made her move. She changed the setting on the target dummy to charging when he was about to pull the trigger. His shot grazed the target's head in the same sizzling blue color as it had for Garrus. _

"_Or" He held up a talon, smirking. He obviously had some devious nefarious plan a foot, and she was ready for it._

_He pressed a button on a wall panel and the barrier separating the room disappeared. In fact the two thirds that were restricted was suddenly a forest, a vibrant and green forest. Birds sounded and there was the occasional drip drop of water running on the leaves. Another press of buttons and the scenery shifted to a dance club, with pumping music, dancers on the tables, and a bartender who occasionally fizzled out and in. Not yet pleased with the scene he changed it again. This time it was reminiscent of the shopping areas on the citadel. Patrons and Store associates milled about like they would in real life._

"_It's a holographic tool, generally used for riot training or for observation classes. Some days they use it to play Armor Spray. "_

_He must be getting good at reading her emotions because he continued explaining away after one look at her face. "It's a game where we have two teams, and they take each other out using rounds that spray paint over the armor and if the bullet impacts on a fatal zone it goes on red and if the bullet causes a minor wound it goes on green. Anything beyond that is orange."_

"_Are you ready then?" Shepard held up her assault rifle slipping the mod on the barrel._

_The first game she rushed into the crowd and didn't realize that more than Garrus was shooting at her. The holographic people were handling weapons too, especially those near the weapon and ammunition shops. By the time they finished Shepard was covered in the paint and so was Garrus. Their armor was a motley of color, green, red, and orange. It disappeared as they stepped over the barrier threshold. _

"_Did you really have to shoot the eyepiece?" For much of the game his eye piece was a splotch of red, the only shot she had made towards his face, and she hit the eyepiece. _

"_In my defense you were cheating. You could read where I was with it." She stowed her weapons away, compacting them into their storage case. _

"Yeah well this pyjack better." The galaxy at large needed to find something else to compare the humans to. Pyjacks were small monkey like animals and they inhabited many planets, they were similar to Earth's apes and monkeys and the galaxy seemed to think it appropriate to liken the two together. This would have to change.

Shepard checked around the corner, looking towards the entrance of the famed Chora's Den, Fist's hideout on the Citadel. Two Turians with assault rifles drawn had exited the establishment and her two companions were bickering away over something. Maybe it was about pyjacks or knowing Krogans and her limited interactions with them it was probably along the lines of how he likes his various alien livers cooked. She ducked around the bend and then popped the sniper rifle off of her back and extended it. While she hadn't fired a weapon in months, besides with Garrus at the C-Sec shooting range and how he managed that she would never know but it certainly was one of the best moments on the citadel, the motions came swiftly back to her. Muscle memory was a wonderful thing sometimes. She lined up the first Turian in her sights and waited with baited breath for him to pop his head out of cover. One second his head was moving up over the barrier and the next there was blue blood splattered on the wall behind him. The second Turian had been standing near his buddy was running at her now and she hurriedly sighted him through the scope while he rushed her and fired the sniper rifle again. His head exploded and blue blood sprayed everywhere.

Now where were her two partners in all of this, why was she taking down enemies by herself on foreign ground. She looked around the corner, they were still there, arguing.

"Well this pyjack took out the two men at the entrance while you two were reminiscing."

"Not bad pyjack." The Krogan touting the shotgun stepped over the bodies. He glanced over them, noting the solid shots to their skulls. She could wield a sniper rifle as good as the Turian that much was obvious.

They cleared out the front room of Chora's Den, the Asari dancers were elsewhere, and in their place were plenty of Krogan and Turians for them to shoot that was until they reached the end of the room and the entrance to the warehouse. Two Turians stood there with their hands up, shakily watching the trio of gun toters heading their way. Shepard pushed Wrex back, recognizing him about to charge the two innocent workers; Garrus was busy reloading his rifle, he had no qualms allowing her to take point.

"So Fist is?"

"A Turian who got on the wrong side of the Shadow Broker."

Shepard stared at him, raising an eyebrow for good measure. The Krogan did not respond.

"And he is?"

"No one knows but he knows everything. You don't want to get on the wrong side of the Shadow Broker. He has agents all over the galaxy. C-Sec can't catch the guy. They have no clue where he is either."

"Hide nor tail of this guy then." Fist put up a good fight but in the end he was no match for them. The Turian begged for his life and eagerly gave away the information about the Quarian girl. Shepard was about to let him go, let him run for his life.

Wrex had none of it though. He shot the man.

"You don't shoot him unless I let you." Shepard stood to her impressive 5'6" height against the 7 foot Krogan. She stared him down, nevermind the fact that she was standing on her tip toes to do so.

"I don't leave a contract alive. I had a job to do."

"Shepard, we need to find the Quarian girl."

"Right." They reloaded their weapons. Outside they could hear the clamor of reinforcements coming to avenge their fallen comrades. Her handy shotgun was pulled out, and the poisonous rounds slipped inside the chamber. They made their way back through the front area, around the bar, where Wrex demonstrated the fine abilities of Krogan charging. He rammed another Krogan over the bar and proceeded to fire shot gun rounds into him. She would have considered it overkill if she hadn't recently learned of the redundant nervous system. There was beauty in having a backup organ system. Garrus grunted when a shot nicked him across the collar. Shepard took stock of their situation, they were nearly out of the den but Fist's men kept them pinned down and they only had 2 minutes left to find the girl and stop the exchange.

"Wrex charge them." The Krogan did not say anything about receiving orders from a human, or a pyjack as it seemed he liked to call her, he never called her by her name yet.

"Garrus?" The comm crackled in response. She looked back to him, where he was crouching behind a chair, clenching a hand to his collar, blue syrupy gel pouring over the wound. So that's what medigel looked like, a nearly instant cure all.

He waved his rifle towards the door, telling her to go on.

"See you on the other side." Another Turian caught on to the plan, he tried jumping over the bar and fire shot gun rounds into the puny human but she dodged them. Wrex caught hold of the man and smashed a hand across his face, the resounding slap ringing in the room. The glass shattered from Wrex throwing the Turian on it. They were finally able to leave the bar with over a minute to go.

Garrus ran up beside her, his shoulder was bright blue but quickly darkening under the medigel application. "Where are we…"

"This way." He took off to the rapid transit machine but instead of taking it he went deeper into the wards. Behind them Wrex was lumbering along, clearly Krogans were not meant to be creatures of stealth.

A group of Salarians and Turians were clustered together, and in the middle a Quarian, recognizable by her environmental suit. Luckily they were too busy trying to play nice with the Quarian to notice the lumbering Krogan mountain or the Human and Turian setting up shots with their sniper rifles. Shepard calmed herself, slowed her breathing, waiting for the precise moment when the head Turian turned away from his target and was a safe distance away for her to take the kill shot.

The circle around the woman dispersed and two shots rang out in quick succession; two bodies fell to the floor. Eight more to go. Wrex barreled into the fray and took out another with a shotgun round to the face. He next took down a Salarian that he slapped across the face. She assumed he was out of the game if the way he went down was hint enough. During the chaotic rumble of a charging Krogan the Quarian had smartly run over to Shepard and Garrus, she took cover behind the wall. The remaining were taken out quickly enough, mostly under the hail of gunfire from Shepard and Garrus, and surprisingly the Quarian woman who shot one of the other men down while trying to avoid hitting their Krogan comrade who was determined to melee the attackers to death.

In the end they were left checking the bodies, and scanning the omnitools for any stray communications. They cleared out before the C-Sec police arrived on scene, even though Garrus was a C-Sec officer they were not officially under C-Sec jurisdiction right then.

They decided to talk about the events at the Earth Ambassador's office. Now when they were going to Chora's Den they did not receive many stray looks from passerbys but when going through the presidium eyes followed them. A Quarian, Turian, Krogan, and Earth's ambassador drew many queer stares but no one made a comment to the party. It didn't help that they were decked out in armor and weapons.

Once inside the relative safety and security of the office Shepard asked. "You said that you had information on Saren?"

The Quarian nodded, switching on omni tool and bringing up the display. "Yes."

The sound from the omni tool crackled and then cleared up, loud enough for a distinct voice to be heard, the deep mutlitonal sounds of a Turian. Another voice was there though; this one was lilting and lyrical, deep and beautiful. Her words though were off, strange, like she didn't quite understand what she was saying.

"That's Saren alright." Garrus grunted, standing up straight and near growling. "I've investigated him long enough to know that voice anywhere."

"What about the second voice?"

"Hmm, she could be anybody, not a Turian, didn't have the flange."

"Krogan women don't leave the planet."

"She is not a Quarian, there was no mouth filter."

"So in all like likelihood this is an Asari." They nodded in agreement. "Garrus, this is your investigation."

He leaned back against the table dejectedly. "I need more proof before I go in front of the council."

The evidence wasn't definitive. They needed something concrete to tie Saren down but even the Quarian's voice recording was not enough to go against him before the council.

"You're pretty handy there with a gun…" Shepard looked to the Quarian, mildly curious as to what lay hidden under the mask. She could see the outline of a face and white ovals for the eyes but nothing that truly showed what lay beneath the covering. Even data net on the Citadel lacked pictures of the Quarians before the environment suit was necessity. A few Asari she had spoken to knew of them but could not describe what the mask concealed. They were the gypsy race who lived their life on the flotilla ships in space. Beyond that she really didn't know the culture. The pilgrimage was one of the few things she had learned from Garrus about the Quarians, how they sent off those of age to fend for themselves in the galaxy and then they would return home to the flotilla.

"Tali Zorah'nar Rayya."

"Thank you for your help Tali."

"I want to join you."

"Join us?"

"You're going to fight the Geth. I am an expert on Geth technology. I can help you."

"What about your pilgrimage?"

"Our Pilgrimage proves we are ready and willing to give ourselves for the greater good. What does it say about me if I turn my back on this?"

Shepard took a moment to ponder this. Could she really turn her down, the Normandy was not ready yet, a few more days, and their mission was also not outlined. The Turians were hoping that the Normandy would help in fighting off pirates or geth when they appeared in Citadel space but the Humans were eager to use the Normandy's stealth system in scouting for garden world planets available for colonization.

"You'll be working alongside humans." Of course there were a few things the Quarian needed to be aware of before she joined the Normandy crew.

"I can do that."

"Follow orders from a human captain?"

"Captains are leaders in the flotilla, this will be not different."

"Welcome aboard then Tali."

Wrex stepped forward. "Any promises of combat?"

"Most likely."

"Guns, violence, mayhem. What are we waiting for?" Wrex turned to leave, the biggest shit eating grin she had ever seen in her life plastered on his face. He looked like he was living the dream.

"Now hold it. We don't leave until tomorrow."

"Tomorrow Shepard?" Oh crap, she couldn't suppress the small and very unsoldier like squeakt that escaped her lips, traitorous body. She keenly remembered not telling Garrus.

Leaving Earth had been heart breaking; most of the crew was single because many of the married officers who had children were not willing to leave their families behind. No one knew if the Valiant would ever come back, the odds were stacked against them. They didn't know what they were about to activate was a relay and they didn't know if they did activate if what it would do. She had her own goodbyes to give before leaving on the Valiant but being an orphan meant she was not leaving behind a mother and father who would have tears rolling down their faces. She saw enough of that from the countless parents who were at the ceremony waving goodbye to their children, not knowing if they would ever hear from them again. Alenko and Joker were the closest thing she had to a family, and it was heart wrenching to watch Alenko kiss his mother goodbye and prolong the hug with his father. When communications to Earth were established she saw many tears throughout the Normandy, mothers and fathers sending their children messages which they thought they would never be able to do.

Of course today was the day that the Earth delegation was finally arriving, which meant she also had to clean up and shower. The sticky Turian blood was starting to smell on her armor, and the others fared no better. Maybe she could talk to Garrus about her leaving the Citadel after her shower, or maybe he would forget about the whole incident. He could throw it under the rug just like the time that she had, while drunk with her crew, nuzzled into his fringe and, if Joker was to be believed, vomited on his shoes. They had never talked about the night, the next morning when she woke up with the worst headache and hangover of her life Dr. Chakwas was all too ready to with her hangover cure. So maybe she could get a reprieve, she might be able to escape to the private chambers and never have to deal with this again.

" Yes, tomorrow. The Normandy is leaving for Eden Prime."

"Eden Prime? Saren is going to be there and you know it. I'm coming." Or maybe there was no option for escape. She couldn't handle this though. There was no reason to bring him along with her.

He had a life on the citadel. Wrex was a bounty hunter and he went where he pleased, in fact if she tried to keep him off the Normandy she had a feeling it would end with gunshots. Tali was on her pilgrimage and in any action the geth she would be useful, besides she really could find something useful while working with them. There was no doubt that Wrex and his combat skill would ultimately prove useful and Tali and her technological skills would prove necessary. Garrus had a life here. He could pursue Saren with C-Sec backing him. Shepard was following orders from Earth.

She gritted out. "No Garrus." Suddenly it occurred to her that in all the time that they had spent together not once had she ever truly disagreed with him. This was a first. "Stay here on the Citadel, this is where you are needed."

Garrus stormed off. It left a strange feeling in her gut, like maybe something was wrong and she just couldn't see it, hopefully not. She disregarded the reeling in her gut, pushing it away. He really had not place on the Normandy. So why did she feel all through her getting ready to greet the ambassador that she just punched her best friend in the gut.

Eagle One landed safely on the Citadel. Ambassador Udina was the first to depart from the quickly commissioned ship. The Ambassador was all smiles and waves for the crowd of dignitaries and Shepard could see Captain Anderson behind the lifetime politician. The military man was frowning; of course he hid it as soon as he left the ship, masking it.

"Shepard. Glad to know you made it safely." They saluted and their stoic military masks transformed into smiles for the both of them.

"You wouldn't believe it Anderson."

"I hope you and your crew have conducted yourselves admirably during your stay on the Citadel." Ambassador Udina remarked to her in a voice dripping in diplomatically concealed sarcasm and contempt. The man was slimy, oily, and she saw a lifetime of disagreements and snide comments before her from this man. Anderson was looking at her from over Udina's shoulder, keenly reminding her where she was, this was not the moment for a pissing contest between the two representatives of Earth. He offered his hand to her.

"Ambassador Udina, how wonderful it is to meet you." Shepard said. She shook his hand, making sure to twist his fingers slightly in a crushing grip. He had the decency not to cringe.

"Commander Shepard." The Asari Councilor greeted warmly compared to the other two councilors who stared at her. Even their holographic stare downs were scornful.

"Thank you Councilor Tevos."

"Have you any news from Earth?" The Turian councilor asked. He already knew, the Turians had sent frigates to Earth to for first contact.

"Yes. They are sending a delegation." And I will not have to deal with this political bullshit any more from any of you; a small part of her was rejoicing at the prospect of leaving the unofficial office of Earth's representative. Even though her office was now going to some lifetime political player, someone who probably specialized in bullshit, she did not have to walk to line between politically correct anymore.

She related the story to him once they reached the Earth Ambassador's office. She told him how the Valiant was stranded and sending out an SOS signal, broadcasting noise on all frequencies and hoping someone would notice and that after a few days they were detecting ships on the long range scanners. He was particularly pleased at how they initial contact on the Citadel went, how the alien races trying to appear non-threatening in any way possible. She had to explain the translators to them. She pulled back her hair to show them hers, how the clear plastic molded to her ears.

"Yeah I couldn't believe it at first either." Anderson turned his head so she could see the small plastic in his ears.

"Commander Shepard." An armored Turian stopped her. The Turian was different from the others, his shell was a blood red metallic and white facial markings covered his whole face, and part of her noticed, the part that she constantly squashed down, that his voice was deeper than Garrus's.

"Yes?"

"Nihlus Kryik. Pleased to meet you. " Anderson nodded to the Turian. The name rang a bell, one of the council Spectres, a famous one too. She sometimes heard reports of a Nihlus Kryik when she walked by one of the newsstands.

"We have an assignment for the Normandy. You were specifically requested to aide me in a recon mission to Eden Prime." Nihlus said. Eden Prime, it was the first planet that humans had colonized. The council had been eager to and quick to allow the humans to colonize the garden world. Only one stipulation was on the contract, that any and all Prothean artifacts found were reported to the council. The clause was in nearly every council contract for planet colonization, even the artifacts on Mars were already under council scrutiny, but the humans were adamant that they could handle the research on Mars themselves so the council had relented, caved to the new race.

"When do we ship out?" Her military training came back to her fully, her stance changed and she straightened up, the weeks of sitting around, even if it was on a luxuriously padded chair, were over.

"Tomorrow morning, 0800 hours. See you ship side." The captain dismissed her.

"Ready for tomorrow Joker?"

"Are you kidding me? I'm actually gonna miss my padded seats. I have to go back to standard military issue." He tipped his beer bottle back. Shepard made sure to savor each drink she was handed.

"You're not gonna miss the view?"

"Oh that's certainly in the top two." The Asari bartender walked by again, checking in on her patrons, her bright purple corset top displaying her features prominently. "maybe the only thing."

"Well at least Williams will be with us." The Gunnery Chief was dancing away in the crowd. LT Alenko kept a close eye on his marines, he joined her and Joker at the bar.

"So where's Garrus?" The question caused her a moment's hesitation; she wanted to look around for the familiar blue Turian. Part of her was expecting to see him standing in the corner with his own bottle drinking the night away along with them.

"Yeah he isn't hovering around with that stick up his ass like usual."

"I am officially off protection detail boys." Reality was though that she hadn't seen him since she kicked him out of the office that afternoon. She had told him no. No he was not needed on a milk run to Eden Prime where he could possibly get hurt, shoot, or killed, and she did not need someone watching her back the whole time. She no longer required a protection detail to tail her around the citadel to make sure that no intergalactic incidents were caused. She was on her own and she was happily going to work like that.

"Well then commander you should join the festivities, come out to the dance floor, the DJ is known for playing vintage earth club music." She allowed Kaidan to pull her along into the fray. The night started to blur in a haze of drinks and colors that filled her mind. Hopefully she wasn't tripping again because the Asari bartender was mixing drinks that caused hallucinogenic effects to humans. It happened the last time she was here, luckily though the bartender looked different than the one from last time. Thankfully the dancing floor was crowded with humans this time and no one would take the chance to trouble their commander.

"_Excuse me." A rough taloned hand stole her away from the grip of some brown toned Turian, his facial markings were oddly placed and they kept moving. _

_Okay maybe it was time for her to stop order fluorescent green drinks and just stick with the highlighter pink or yellow ones. Or the beer, beer was always, almost always a safe bet although the first beer they had on the citadel Joker ended up flirting with a Salarian so maybe beer wasn't a safe bet._

_The hand that had stolen her away from the dance floor was covered in blue armor, she traced armor with her fingers the back up to the head- Garrus. He was always a fun guy to see, especially right now because he looked like a light bulb. His metallic skin shined in the club lights and in Shepard's fogged mind she knew something was wrong. _

"_What have you given her?" He grunted out. Shepard snuggled in close to the arm that held her, he was really warm. He was a lot warmer than she expected. He was like a furnace, or like a blanket on a chilly night, the perfect thing to wrap herself in._

"_She asked for an Illium Sunrise. And those men over there bought her a Skyllian Blitz." She nodded towards two disgruntled Turians on the dance floor. "And then one was an Elysium Storm." She nodded to the other Turian who had offered Shepard the drink in person. He was not the one she had been dancing with but she did remember his name, it was musical, lyrical, something like Simon and his friend she called him Garfunkel. "The last thing she had was a Max Effective." _

"_You gave her a Max Effective?" His skin was so soft, soft and leathery Shepard decided. She nuzzled her head into the back of his, splaying her hands across his chest, balancing herself awkwardly too keep in reach of the back. Garrus grunted, altering his hold on the squirming human. He could smell the multitude of pheromones wafting off of her. He could smell the Asari aphrodisiac and knew to add it to Mordin's list of things humans could not consume. Right now he was ready to start his own list, places Shepard was never ever allowed to go alone, without him. He really should have kept a better watch on her. For some reason she had decided that the back of his head was the best place to now, what she was doing now he could not fathom. She was pressing her lips on the cracks that crossed the back of his head. White hot lust electrified him and he nearly growled. He only controlled the response by grabbing the bartender by the front of her blouse and hauling her forward. He directed and channeled all of his energy into dealing with her. The human woman was demanding in her ministrations, her hands were everywhere at once and he had to drop his hold on the bartender to grasp Jane's wrists. _

"_He bought it for her." The Turian who she was stolen from on the dance floor was now stomping towards them, eyeing the human female currently draping herself around another Turian._

_Garrus turned his steely blue stare onto the approaching Turian. He stood to his full height, and when Shepard groaned at the movement. The oncoming Turian was like a missile, heading straight for them, ignoring everything else. _

"_She's mine." Garrus sniffed the air again. Nope, nothing, there were a multitude of Turian scents, Turian claims, but none of them overpowered his scent on her. The hair on the back of her neck twitched when he sniffed it and she, being playful had decided that it was appropriate to scratch the back of his head. Really he couldn't figure out why she thought his fringe was so fascinating. But she was bound and determined it seemed to cause trouble. He was grateful that she had not discovered the Turian sensitivity for their waists. As much as she was clinging to him it was really becoming hard to focus on the task at hand._

"_I suggest you move along." Before I take you out of here physically and then report you for threatening the human ambassador. He left that part unsaid. The other Turian was unsteady on his feet and he had a feeling that he would not understand even the most basic of sentences. _

"_She is mine." Garrus used his free hand to grab a hold of the other Turian's collar, the small part of his brain not flooded with basic Turian mating instincts, hormones, noted that his rival was a colony Turian from a minor notorious family, there were rumors that they dabbled in the slave trade along with the Batarians._

"_Leave now." He growled in old Turian, something the translators could not understand. It was a primitive language, used for mating and claims and right now he was claiming her. Even if she was, oddly she was quiet, her head was still tucked behind his shoulder and leaning against him but she was not moving. Strange. _

_The other Turian growled, extending his claws and arms. He shouldn't have made it so easy for Garrus. In reality it was his own fault. _

_Mindful of his motionless burden he punched the other Turian in the face, hard enough to shatter the cheekplate. Really he should have known better than to challenge a superior male on his rightful claim. _

_Garrus flashed the stunned Asari bartender his C-Sec badge, telling her to call Officer Cavil._

_He checked on his human charge, she was staring at him wistfully, he eyes were glassy and he noticed how green they looked. He registered the beat of her heart through his eye piece; she was alive, if only experiencing the effects of extreme inebriation and the lustful side effects of the Asari drinks. He would watch her during the night, make sure she was not in danger before he left in the morning. He still had to check in on an ongoing investigation. _

"So no more Max Effectives for you Shepard?" Joker tipped his beer at her when she came back from the dance floor sweating. The unbidden memory of Garrus holding her, keeping her close, how hot he was. Really he was a furnace. They had gone drinking together other times but she stayed clear of anything neon or highlighter colored, and particularly the Max Effectives. She couldn't forget that night, and sometimes she entertained the idea of Garrus 'claiming her' as it seemed like he was about to do that night. Only that morning it ended with her waking up with a splitting headache and a call to Dr. Chakwas for a visit. Garrus, who she vividly remembered cradling her against him and the humor tug-of-war with her boots that, resulted in him getting a foot stomp to his face when he discovered the meaning of the word ticklish. No, she had to live in the here and forget that moment because it was never going to happen. She had almost forgotten that Kaidan was at her side with his arm around her waist.

"Not after last time." The two men laughed. Kaidan held her against him.

"I'm calling it fellas. I'll see you on the ship tomorrow." She could still stand on her own two feet and she kept herself from calling Garrus and asking him to help her home. She made it back safely to the apartment, everything was packed away, easy for her to navigate the shaking floors to her bedroom.

The next day she woke up early, changed from the large Turian shirt that Garrus had given her when he found out about the human birthday tradition, and for some reason she couldn't remember changing into it last night. She pushed the thought aside, now was not the time to start reminiscing. Naturally her heart found this was the most pertinent moment to think about Garrus, and her love life in particular, or lack thereof. Nothing surprised her now.

"Shepard." Wrex greeted her gruffly on the hangar deck. Tali stood next to him. A squad of Turian soldiers and engineers also beside them, they mingled together. The humans stood to the side, out of the way. No one mixed together. Shepard slung her bag to the floor, she couldn't understand why the Turians, the aliens since it now included a Krogan and a Quarian, and the humans segregated themselves. They had spent over half a year together and now they were suddenly too shy or too intimidated to spend time together. And they were going to work on a ship together. This was the joint ship, the hybrid, the prototype stealth ship and now they could not come together as a crew. If this was an example of the time ahead of her she was ready to face Garrus and tell him to come along, anything to break the silence.

"Commander." Kaidan said stiffly from her side. If this was how the mission was going to start then everyone really needed the old fashioned trust lessons.

Of course her mission did not get better from there. What had started as suspicious milk run with a renowned spectre on board turned into botched retrieval. Humans had unearthed a protean beacon, similar to the one on Mars and our directive was altered to retrieve the beacon and send it back for examination.

The first thing to go wrong was the crew, the mixed Human, Turian and the lone Quarian and Krogan. The two engineering teams it seemed were determined to stay separate and they bickered, Navigator Pressely made it worse when he voiced his opinion to me later on, within the delicate earshot of one of the Turian crew members, that he does not believe that they should allow the aliens access to one of the alliance's most advanced ships even though the ship was originally Turian and they had only allowed the hybridization when they realized that for a first contact species the humans were relatively advanced. He also voiced concern for allowing the Quarian, he noted that they were a notorious gypsy race, stealing from other races to further their own gains. Shepard had to point out his blatant bigotry, and even then it did not stop. So she was forced in the end to encourage the engineers to work together. Engineer Adams, one of the few humans who had no qualms working with the Turians, although he did pay particular attention to Tali, cautious attention he called it, was one of the few to break the proverbial ice among the two races. Amusingly no one, except Williams who disapproved of all the aliens onboard, complained about the Krogan who had taken to frequenting the storage deck. No one was getting along.

The second thing to go wrong for them was the mission itself. The first clue should have been that a spectre was coming along for the ride, no spectre ever came along for the ride. The first transmission from the planet was filled with static and marines, can't forget the Geth were there too, and what took up a large portion of the screen was a giant ship. It was a giant ship that looked like a giant cuttlefish. Nihlus had elected to scout ahead and she along with two others would trail after. Tali, with her expertise on the AI's gone wild and Kaidan accompanied her planetside. She hacked and he would overload. Everything was going well until they heard a gunshot during a moment of cease fire. The gunshot while it wasn't special at the time and hardly warranted any study because they were in a combat zone would prove to be of importance. Nihlus had been shot, and if a lazy good for nothing colonist was anything to go by it was by another Turian, someone Nihlus had recognized and called friend. There was no time to mourn or question what burial rites Turians desired, she had never thought to ask that question anyway. They moved onto the space port where the colonist informed them that the beacon had been moved. Thankfully he was correct.

They had minutes at the space port to disarm five different bombs scattered throughout, and the bombs demanded her attention. Tali and Kaidan took care watching her back while she defused the bombs. At one point they found a Geth that was relatively intact, and Tali took the moment to scan it. Luckily she did because it revealed a video file of the Turian, Saren. Hopefully the council would finally believe Garrus. Annoying emotions started to bubble to the surface at the mention of his name but she squashed them down, another fire fight was underway. She could not afford to reminiscence over what she wanted and what had happened. Besides Turian and Human, levo and dextro, they don't mix. She finished the last husk off with a fist to the face, fueled by the rage at the direction where mind continued to take when she was not controlling it.

The beacon was secure. She called up to the Normandy and informed Joker and also requested a pickup for Nihlus, no man was left behind.

She didn't noticed Kaidan walking closer and closer to the beacon, didn't see him and Tali studying it, talking about it. It didn't register that it would be dangerous, that it would activate. She heard the low hum of the beacon and she sprang into action knocking the marine out of the way and in doing so forcing herself into the beacon's way. The screaming came again to her mind. This time images accompanied the burning and screaming in her mind. She felt panic and worry, a race calling out for vengeance and justice, and a warning. She could not make out the words but she could feel the intentions, something was coming. The beacons were a warning.

When she woke up from the nightmare inflicted upon her she was in the Normandy's medbay, was smiling and Kaidan was in there too. He apologized profusely for his actions. Cursing himself for endangering her. When had she become something that needed protecting? Only when Garrus is around, her traitorous mind supplied all too eagerly. This was getting out of hand.

That led to the third problem- she could not stop thinking about Garrus. The first day she had considered it lust, she was lusting after a Turian, which could be dealt with easily, all she had to do was stay away from him and the problem should resolve itself. Unfortunately it didn't. She wasn't thinking about him ripping her bodice or anything of the like. She just couldn't stop thinking about him. She had to remind herself that Nihlus was not Garrus, Nihlus was gruff and to the point. He hardly spoke. She caught herself looking back to see him behind her and she would usually make some snide remark about whatever was going on at the moment but she couldn't do that. He wasn't there. And a part of her wanted him to be there.

She had spent an inordinate amount of time cursing herself for not inviting him, knowing full well that he belonged on the Citadel and not with some crazy human female who was undoubtedly allergic to him. She was acting like a foolish romantic; she was getting as bad as Officer Chambers who supposedly introduced a human venereal disease to the alien population. She had to face reality and reality was she blew any chance she ever had with him and she also stood no chance with him and repeatedly reminding herself that humans and turians do not mix biologically. She never had this problem before with guys. Sure some guy would call her for a couple of days and wonder why the N7 marine was not calling him back but eventually he would stop. She couldn't stop. The man had been her shadow for the past six months, her much larger, taller, and pointier shadow but her constant shadow nonetheless.

Now that she was 'alone' things seemed strange. Kaidan hung onto her constantly, she could see the puppy dog look in his eyes and he couldn't see the way Ash looked at him. The gunnery chief was enamored with the 'LT' as she called him and he was blind to everything she did. Kaidan probably didn't realize it but he was like a brother to her, him and Joker both, and Ash fell neatly into being like a sister for Jane.

Dr. Chakwas shooed the staff lieutenant out of the medbay after Jane had hushed him from apologizing one more time after his fifth or sixth time. Her first stop after the good doctor dismissed her from the med bay was her quarters for a fresh uniform and then she went to see Joker to check in on the course of the Normandy.

"How's she flying?"

"Oh she's smooth, Amrax installed a Turian program for the pilot that allows the computer to track my motions and alter the ships course in response. Watch this." He barely moved his right hand on the screen and the ship went smoothly and effortlessly to the right before he corrected the ship to course.

"I'm never going back to the Alliance ships now."

Jane checked in with the engineering crew, Amrax stopped her while on the stairs going to see Wrex. The Turian female was one of three on the ship, and the only one not mated.

"Yes Amrax?"

"There is a practice on Turian ships, Sparring. It acts as stress relief and builds camaraderie through competition. As it is not a human custom I had hoped to introduce and familiarize you with it, perhaps through a friendly sparring match between you and I."

Oh now that did not sound like such a bad idea. Of course she could not start today, Dr. Chawkas administered pain medicine with strict instructions to take it light until they arrived at the citadel.

"That sounds great Amrax." They were set to arrive at the Citadel later in the evening but she did not know how long they were going to stay, but working out and sparring with someone, especially another Turian would be great.

The first time Garrus and had talked about sparring she had seen the wistful look in his eyes. He had flounced her; of course he was also trained to take on Asari who were similar in build to humans so he claimed he had an unfair advantage. It slowly disappeared over time as she learned to stay out of his reach and to keep herself moving, and she also learned that humans were actually more flexible than their Asari counterparts. His eyes would bulge at the sight of her in a split.

"_You can do that?" His tongue darted out licking the thin lips, his eyes bulged and his brow plates were the highest she had ever seen._

_All of that because she clumsily jumped into the splits, and she was able to stay there without twisting and contorting in pain, the last part she assumed from the look on his face. She steadied herself on the mat, savoring the shocked expression on his face. She thought she could hear a low growl coming from his, his unconscious subvocals emitting the sound._

"_Yes. And…" She twisted her body, and rolled onto her hands. She pushed her body upward and balanced on first both hands and then slowly moved one hand to the side. She was now balancing all of her weight on the palm of one hand._

_The growling was getting louder._

_Jane lowered her legs to the ground and stood up tall. "watch this." She breathed out once and raised her left leg, and then straightened it so the toes were pointing towards the sky. She pulled her leg up with both arms, pulling it as high as she could above her head. It stretched her entire body, pulling at her waist and straining her back with the motion; she hadn't attempted this move since high school. _

_A talon touched her around the waist and then another followed, trailing down her arm. She opened her eyes, suddenly aware that she had closed them. She could feel his heat around her, his furnace like body temperature wrapping itself around her. She tried then to move and stand only on her tip toes, leaning slightly into Garrus even though she knew it was the wrong way. The improper shift in balance upset her stance and she tumbled forward._

_Jane never hit the floor, his arms clenched around her waist the moment he felt her lose balance. She laughed it off, breathless, and not from the sparring. _

_She shifted in his arms, turning to face him and she finally noticed how close he was. It hit her that he was holding her; he hadn't dropped his arms from around her waist yet. The look in his eyes seared through her, tempting her to stand on her tip toes and lean that much closer._

_Garrus lowered his browplate, softly touching their foreheads together. He hummed in contentment. "I never knew humans were so flexible."_

_It took her a second to find her voice, it liked to leave at the worst times. "Yea. Or that you could… reach so far." Okay even for her that was terrible, her inner vixen was cringing. This whole interspecies romance was not working out well. _

_Her omni-tool dinged, something to distract her. It was Ash reminding her of the surprise dinner they were planning for Dr. Chakwas. Joker was in the background making a comment about surprising an old mother hen and had anyone ever heard of a heart attack. They waved his comments off. _

_That reminded her though. "You should see Williams perform ballet. Infact," she felt her mean streak coming out. "you should ask her tonight if she'll show you an arabesque." _

_That night at dinner when Garrus finally remembered the comment and everyone was a few drinks in at a bar he asked her to show him the ballet move. The gunnery chief blushed and nearly threw her drink in his face until she realized the commander was laughing at his side. In retaliation she stood up and leaned close to the Turian, whispering "Sure I can show you". Williams stretched out, raising her left leg and bringing both arms forward until her weight was balanced on her right foot, and she then delicately and gracefully extended her right foot and balanced perfectly on her toes. _

_Garrus and several of the male crew who did not know of the gunnery's background in ballet were slack jawed watched woman beautifully position herself into the arabesque. Shepard leaned back against the counter, grinning and feeling a small twinge of jealousy as Garrus watched another woman. That was until he turned to look at her, wanting to see Jane's reaction to the ballet. _

The Normandy arrived at the Citadel quietly; no one was at the docks waiting for the return of the hybrid ship. A small part of her saddened that she didn't see him. She and Tali had an appointment with the council for the next day thanks to Udina, at least the pig knew how to work the political system so they weren't spending a week on the citadel. She issued general shore leave, nobody had to leave but they could if they wanted to, but everyone had to be back on the ship by 1000. They could leave right after speaking with the council.

Jane stayed in that night, checking over the roster, filed the mission report. She watched the video from the geth that all but convicted Saren. She did everything she could to keep her mind from wandering onto the citadel and possibly her then messaging a certain Turian who she had no right to message. When she ran out of things to do she went to bed, she was not going to go onto the citadel unless she had to.

The next morning she showered, twisted her red hair into a manageable ponytail, a few bangs fell into her face. She donned her armor, and went to fetch Tali and Ash, she needed a sister right now. The three ladies rode to the citadel tower. Captain Anderson and Ambassador Udina were waiting for them at the entrance. Ambassador Udina scowled when he saw the weapons and armor.

"Could you not have come in your uniform?"

"This is my uniform. I am a soldier, Udina," besides the council was used to her being the soldier. She was once complimented by the Turian councilor for the military heritage.

Since they were they first appointment of the day they did not have to wait long to speak to the councilors. The three politicians standing across watched them idly.

"I have evidence that Saren Arterius attacked Eden Prime."

"Those are serious allegations Shepard."

"What evidence could you possibly have?" In the left corner across from the councilors was a projection of the Turian in question. He snidely stared them down, looking below him at the lowly creatures.

"Tali play the recording." She stepped up, pressing a few keys on her omni-tool. She reversed the video screen and enlarged it, playing the clip of Saren and the unknown Asari speaking together about the destruction of Eden Prime and how it was one of many to come. The councilors watched their expressions slowly turning to shock. Shepard noted the projection of Saren disappeared after it became increasingly aware of the unequivocally incriminating evidence against him. After the video ended the council did not take long to deliberate. They rapidly arrived at a conclusion.

"This evidence is irrefutable Commander Shepard." The Turian councilor spoke. "Saren will be stripped of his spectre status and all efforts will be made to bring him in to answer for his crimes."

"I recognize the Asari, the one speaking with Saren." Councilor tevos paused, obviously distraught over the other woman's actions. "Matriarch Benezia."

Liara had told her of the various stages an Asari goes through in her life, maiden, matron, and matriarch. A matriarch was an asari who had entered the final stage of their life and are revered for their wisdom. Saren having a Matriarch backing him was not good news.

The Salarian ambassador was more interested in the reapers, the ancient technology that wiped out all existence before them. Saren was somehow helping them. The council would not have it though. They wouldn't believe her. They threw out the idea of the reapers, claiming that they were machines, a distraction to hide Saren's true purpose. Fine if she could not persuade the council to believe the reapers than at least she could stop Saren and whatever it was he was planning. The council swiftly threw out Udina's plan to send in the fleet. A fleet looking for a single man, that would be a mess, a chaotic and political nightmare.

"It is the decision of the council that you be granted all the powers and privileges of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance branch of the Citadel. Spectres are not trained, but chosen. Individuals forged in the fire of service and battle—those whose actions elevate them above the rank and file..." Slowly the walkways and balconies overlooking the council proceedings filled with people watching as the first human was invited to join the spectres.

"Spectres are an ideal, a symbol, the embodiment of courage, determination, and self-reliance. They are the right hand of the council, instruments of our will."

"Spectres bare a great burden. They are protectors of galactic peace both our first and our last line of defense. The safety of the galaxy is theirs to uphold."

"You are the first human spectre Commander this is a great accomplishment for you and your entire species."

"We are sending you into the traverse after Saren. He is a fugitive from justice so you are authorized to use any means necessary to apprehend or eliminate him."

"Any idea where I can find him?"

"We will forward any relevant files to Ambassador Udina."

"Thank you councilors," she bowed out looking smugly over to Ambassador Udina who bristled at her audacity. Captain Anderson was the first one to congratulate her.

"I'll make sure you have the use of the Normandy." Anderson hugged her close.

"The first human spectre. It could only be you Shepard."

"Don't be jealous Ash."

"Oh I'm not, you see soon the council will invite me to join the spectres and they'll see the difference."

"Congratulations Jane." A very familiar dual toned voice said behind her. She stood still, thinking maybe this was a dream or something but the look from Ash told her that no she was hearing a certain Turian behind her.

Anderson, the traitor, ushered everyone away.

"Thanks Garrus." Jane turned around.

"Had to finish my investigation for me didn't you."

"Oh I couldn't help it."

"And be the first human spectre?"

"No one else could do it."

They stood their awkwardly for several moments. She would open her mouth ready to say something but each time she could close it again not exactly sure what she should say. On the Normandy she wanted him to be there, she wanted him there. She couldn't make the move though. Could she invite him along, dare she ask him to join her.

"I'll see you around Commander." He walked off and she stood there too dumbfounded to say anything.

"_I've never had a family Garrus."_

"_How…"_

"_I'm an orphan. My parents abandoned me at a hospital under the Mose's Law. I was given to a local orphanage where I was then lost in the system. No one wanted to adopt the little red head girl, the ginger. Everyone wanted the pretty little brunette with bows in her hair and now scabs on her knees. So I grew up on the streets. I fought with the Reds and ended up in the hospital before I was 18. That's when Anderson found me. He was the first person to stay in my life. The first person who refused to leave me side."_

"_Everyone has left me at some point. I've grown to expect that eventually each person will leave me."_

"_I won't." He held her hand tightly in his, staring into her eyes. She could see the honesty in his, the truth of the statement. He would not leave her. _

But he did leave her. He was leaving her right now and there was nothing that she could think of for him to stay. Why would he want to stay with her?

"_I won't leave you Jane. Remember, there's no Shepard without Vakarrian."_

Maybe there was a way. Maybe he would stay, just for her, and for no other reason. She still had time. She could bring him along with her and they could save the galaxy together, bring down the bad guys and maybe, just maybe stay together through it all.

She chased him down through the Citadel towers, ignoring the strange looks sent her way from the politicians and the bureaucrats loitering. She had walked this route with him a dozen times before, she knew the twists and the turns she would have to take. She executed each one perfectly. Her heart pounded in her chest as she ran. There was only one thing on her mind right then, only one person. It didn't matter that he was Turian and they were not biologically capable of anything. Nothing mattered. She spotted him boarding a C-Sec speeder and she sprinted as fast as she could. She didn't want to know what would happen if he was able to leave. She didn't want to know.

Garrus paused in the takeoff. Long enough for her to catch up and jump into the hovering speeder.

"You told me once that there is no Shepard without Vakarrian." He didn't look away from her. That was a good sign. He didn't make a move to speak. He was watching her, waiting on her. He was letting her lead like he had done all along.

"Come with me. Come with me on the Normandy. We can take Saren down together."

"Shepard and Vakarrian?"

"Meet me at the bar after battle?"

"After the final battle."

"So what do you say?" She was leaning over the center console now. Her face was close to his. She couldn't help herself glancing down at his mouth, couldn't stop her mind wandering over the texture. She knew what the fringe felt like, and that it was sensitive. She knew that the most sensitive part on his body was his waist, and that he had never heard of the term ticklish before he met her. She knew that he liked the drink cafka after a hard day and especially after a fire fight. He had a soft spot for victims and children and his favorite super hero, from Earth, was Batman, the vigilante who saved the weak from the brutes. She knew that he favored the tungsten rounds and the radar mods, he liked knowing where his enemies were. She knew many things but she wanted to know more. She wanted to know what it was like sleeping next to him and how he would wake in the morning, was he grumpy until he had a cup or was he the one who would bounce out of bed and welcome the day. But she found herself most of all wanting to know what was it like to kiss him.

And maybe she could find out today.

Maybe even right now.

Their first kiss was not passionate or amazing and filled with fireworks. It was clumsy. She leaned over the console of the hovering, and she had forgotten it was hovering, speeder and pressed a hand against the door beside him to keep herself steady. It was ungainly. She cupped his face with her other hand, holding it steady. He watched her; unsure of exactly what she was doing. When she pressed her lips against his mouth it gave a little, the small layer of pliable skin under the rough facial plates.

The kiss did not last long.

It ended aburtly when Shepard leaned across the console too much and when she shifted her knee she pressed on the hover button. The speeder dropped roughly, crashing to the floor. All eyes turned to the sudden noise and to the C-Sec officer and newly initiated human spectre inside.

Sometime later a news article would circulate about the rumored relationship between the spectre and the officer, and that picture of them in the dropped speeder laughing together would emerge, along with several other pictures as evidence of the inappropriate relationship but by that time no one found it offensive. The Normandy and her adventures were too well-known and not one person, human, Turian, or other race thought to split up the unstoppable team frequently called the Spectre and her Officer.

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**Author: Do you see the little box under this that reads 'type your review for this chapter here'? Well type a review (questions, comments) then press the little blue button that says 'Post Review' and you will have left a review for this chapter. That would be super. And a free cookie for all those reviewers.**


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